Now is the time to ramp up actions on resilience so that society can beat the COVID-19 crisis while reducing the impact of climate threats.The last few weeks have taken all of us by surprise. We are confined to our homes. Weaknesses in health care systems have been exposed. Jobs are uncertain. Women are bearing the burden of providing informal care within families. Millions are being pushed back into poverty. Stock markets are reeling.We long for normality. But when life was normal we were already in crisis – a climate crisis. Returning to that status quo isn’t an option.

“COP26 made several promising steps forward in uniting the world, and the Asia and the Pacific region, to take stronger action against climate change. I was personally encouraged by the spirit of collective determination and willpower I saw at COP26 to solve what is the critical issue of our lifetime,” said ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa on 15 November following the close of COP26. “At the same time, the detailed negotiations and final statement clearly highlight that more needs to be done—more financing, more innovation, and more collaboration are needed faster to meet this challenge.

Singapore’s carbon tax is designed to maximize green investments while minimizing negative effects on the overall economy.Carbon pricing is gaining growing recognition as an effective instrument to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet the 2 °C goal set by the Paris Agreement. The most common types of carbon pricing schemes are emissions trading schemes and carbon taxes.

In his keynote speech at the International Climate Change Conference that ADB held together with Indonesia’s Ministry of Finance on 22 July, ADB President Masa made a case for bolder actions against climate change while ensuring equitable and sustainable economic recovery in the region’s transition to net-zero emissions.This transition would require international cooperation and strong public and private finance to rapidly decarbonize, adapt to climate change build resilience.

Energy SG’s own Stephen Peters and SERD’s Alex Nash discuss in this blog a simple way to curb the adverse impact of methane on the climate..

Renewable hydrogen is an essential direction for the development of green and low-carbon energy in the future as the People’s Republic of China seeks to lower greenhouse gas emissions.Hydrogen energy is clean and storable with no tailpipe emission except water vapor after combustion. It produces neither carbon dioxide.Unfortunately, most hydrogen energy still produces the carbon dioxide that contributes to climate change. Across the world, more than 95% of hydrogen energy is produced using fossil fuels containing carbon.

SDCD’s Virender Duggal shares his insights about the role of carbon pricing in the overall climate policy architecture. Carbon pricing can be a lever that can help alter behavior by serving as incentive for a more efficient and sustainable practices.

Here is IEA’s ED Fatih Birol’s take on the outcomes of the negotiations based on the commitments announced by the parties at COP26. Pledges apparently still fall short of the 1.5 °C, but what is critical is putting these pledges into action.

In one of the special events during this year’s Annual Meeting on 4 May, President Masa announced that ADB will build up its response to the adverse impacts of climate change through increased focus on adaptation and resilience.Through a holistic approach and on top of making physical infrastructure climate-proof, ADB will invest in more projects with climate adaptation as their primary purpose, while promoting strong integration of the ecological, social, institutional, and financial aspects of resilience across its operations.ADB’s move to increase adaptation and resilience investments wi

On 8 July, President Masa has announced ADB’s alignment with the Paris Agreement. ADB aims to align 100% of its sovereign operations and 85% of its nonsovereign operations by 1 July 2023. ADB’s nonsovereign operations will also have achieved 100% alignment two years later by 1 July 2025.President Masa also announced plans to increase investments in adaptation and resilience in its projects that will bring cumulative financing to $9 billion in 2019 to 2024.